As product scarcity issues continue to dominate this holiday shopping season, consumers are increasingly turning to resale to get the goods — and platform operators are taking notice. eBay has expanded its refurbished goods offering, where shoppers can find discounted inventory from brands including Apple, Samsung and Dyson. Additionally, Liquidity Services, which operates a B2B ecommerce marketplace for surplus business and government goods, has launched a new consumer-facing omnichannel marketplace called AllSurplus Deals for returned and overstock goods.
“We’re heading into a different type of holiday shopping season, dominated by supply chain challenges and changing consumer behaviors,” said Dawn Block, VP of Hard Goods and Collectibles at eBay in a statement. “Amidst strong demand for like-new products, eBay Refurbished is making it even easier for shoppers to access hundreds of thousands of coveted items at substantially lower prices.”
Building on the platform’s Certified Refurbished program, which debuted in October 2020, eBay Refurbished now includes multiple condition grades and a wider range of price points on like-new products. Inventory is sourced directly from the brands or top-rated sellers and it goes through a thorough vetting process before being offered for sale. All eBay Refurbished products also are backed by a one- or two-year Allstate warranty and include free shipping, eBay’s money-back guarantee and free 30-day returns.
Shoppers can choose from the following four conditions:
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- Certified Refurbished: Items are in like-new condition, backed by a two-year warranty and come in new packaging with manuals and accessories;
- Excellent: Items are in like-new condition, backed by a one-year warranty and come in new packaging with manuals and accessories;
- Very Good: Items show minimal wear, are backed by a one-year warranty and come in new packaging; or
- Good: Items show moderate wear, are backed by a one-year warranty and come in new packaging.
Trying to Stand Out in the Increasingly Crowded Resale Field
The Refurbished program is part of a larger effort by eBay to boost product credibility on its platform. Earlier this year, the marketplace hosted a series of in-person product authentication events to promote its authentication practices for high-end collectible items such as sneakers, watches and trading cards.
While eBay had been one of the only games in town for the sale and purchase of used goods online as recently as a few years ago, competition in this space is heating up: resale platform Mercari has predicted that online will account for 55% of sales of used goods by 2030.
New entrant AllSurplus Deals is an online marketplace from Liquidity Services that features overstock and returned products from retailers and manufacturers across the home electronics, toys, furniture, fitness and outdoor equipment, sporting goods, baby necessities, pet supplies, home improvement and general merchandise categories.
The auction-based website is now available to consumers in Arizona. Shoppers bid on products and auction winners pay for their items online, then schedule an appointment for curbside pickup at the company’s new 85,000-square-foot Phoenix warehouse.
While online resale was already on the rise prior to the pandemic, supply chain issues have pushed additional consumers toward used goods. New research from mobile C2C resale marketplace OfferUp found that nearly 40% of shoppers turned to resale marketplaces this year to find items that were in short supply at retailers, and that number is expected to increase to 56% in 2022 as product shortages continue.
“Even in the face of a global supply chain crisis, Americans are determined to find the items they need, and the resale economy has proven to be their answer,” said Natalie Angelillo, VP of Community at OfferUp in a statement. “With resale, consumers are not forced to rely on retailers to find what they need.”
The most-searched-for items on OfferUp this year were the PlayStation 5, Honda Civics, Chevrolet Silverados, couches and dressers. OfferUp’s survey also found that one-quarter of shoppers plan to use resale marketplaces to purchase some of this year’s most sought-after holiday gifts, which include Peloton bikes, Pokémon cards, Yeezy shoes, Crocs, Squishmallows and Funko Pop! figures.
